Flooding in Kansas, May 30, 2001

Name: Flooding in Kansas, May 30, 2001
Start: 2001-05-30T03:00
End: 2001-05-30T22:00
Location: Kansas

May 30, 2001 · NWS GID · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy rain to the tune of 8 inches fell near Portis, Kansas, causing the North Fork of the Solomon River to flood near Portis, and the South Fork to flood near Osborne. 5 feet above flood stage at Osborne.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $250,000
Events: 2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.

Heavy rain to the tune of 8 inches fell near Portis, Kansas, causing the North Fork of the Solomon River to flood near Portis, and the South Fork to flood near Osborne. The river crested 3.9 feet above flood stage at Portis, and about 0.5 feet above flood stage at Osborne. One house was evacuated down stream of Portis, and U. S. Highway 281 was closed for a short time as well. The golf course near Osborne experienced some minor overflows.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 30, 2:28 AM CST, 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 2:28 AM CST, 32 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
328 AM CDT WED MAY 30 2001

EXITING OF PRECIPITATION/CLOUDS AND SUBSEQUENT EFFECT ON TEMPS MAIN
CONCERNS.

EVOLUTION OF UPPER CIRCULATION HAS FOLLOWED ETA MODEL BEST FROM PAST
COUPLE OF NIGHTS.  PROFILERS SHOW SYSTEM NEARLY CLOSED AT 700 AND
500 MB WITH RADAR IMAGERY SHOWING RAIN MOVING NWWD AND EXPANDING.
THIS SYSTEM AND ITS ASSOCIATED RAIN WILL SLOWLY SHIFT EAST TODAY.
AS MENTIONED TREND HAS BEEN TOWARD SLOWER/MORE INTENSE ETA MODEL AND
WILL FOLLOW THIS COURSE TO EXTEND RAIN INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS IN
THE EASTERN CWFA.  RAINS THUS FAR HAVE BEEN HEAVY IN SPOTS BUT HAVE
HAD NO REPORTS OF FLOODING.  DO NOT THINK ADDITIONAL RAINS WILL BE
INTENSE ENOUGH TO AGGRAVATE SITUATION WITH THE BEST NEW AMOUNTS IN
AREAS WHICH WERE LEFT OUT TUESDAY.

MODELS NOT ONLY SHOW SLOWER MOVEMENT BUT A FAR SLOWER EROSION OF
CLOUDS.  WEST COULD SEE FEW BREAKS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS MIXING
TAKES HOLD WITH 850 MB WINDS KICKING UP TO 40 KTS...BUT APPEARS THAT
CLOUDS WILL HOLD FAST MOST AREAS...LIMITING RECOVERY...ONLY REACHING
MID/UPPER 60S WITH NEAR 70 SW.

CONTINUED MIXING TONIGHT SHOULD KEEP TEMPS UP AND ANY FOG AT BAY
ALTHOUGH SKIES SHOULD FINALLY CLEAR.  WILL BASE MINS CLOSER TO ETA
DEW POINT FIELDS RATHER THAN CHILLY AVN GUIDANCE. THIS SPELLS
READINGS OF 48 NW TO 54 SE.

ON THURSDAY...DECENT MIXING AND ABUNDANT END OF MAY SUNSHINE FIGURE
TO WARM TEMPS NICELY...AGAIN ABOVE AVN MOS BUT NOT QUITE AS
OPTIMISTIC AS GOING FORECAST DUE TO SLOWER EASTWARD SHIFT OF PATTERN.
WILL GO UPPER 70S EAST AND AROUND 80 WEST.

FOR PAST COUPLE OF NIGHTS...AVN HAS BEEN HINTING AT POSSIBLE SHOWER
DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE NORTH THU EVENING WITH SECONDARY BOUNDARY
BEING PUSHED ALONG BY DIVING UPPER JET.  NOW ETA ALSO TAKING THIS
PATH WITH A DECENT 700 MB WAVE TO BOOT.  IN FACT ETA TRACKS ANOTHER
H7 WAVE ACROSS SOUTHERN SECTIONS WHERE RETURN MOISTURE FIGURES TO BE
EVEN BETTER.  SOME ELEVATED INSTABILITY NOW ALSO INDICATED.  WHILE
OVERALL MOSITURE LIMITED...AM INCLINED TO INTRODUCE A SLGT CHC POP
THU NGT AREA WIDE.

SECONDARY BOUNDARY DOES LOOK STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP NORTH A LITTLE
COOLER FRIDAY AND WILL AJDUST ACCORDINGLY.  AS MENTIONED
YDA...WEEKEND MCS THREAT LOOKS JUSTIFIED FOR SAT NGT...AND TSTM
THREAT MAY EVEN CARRY INTO SUNDAY WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE/BOUNDARY
INTERACTION.

.GID...NONE.

KD/33

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Osborne

When: May 30, 3:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Osborne forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $200,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.350, -98.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Smith

When: May 30, 3:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Smith forecast zone
Crop damage: $50,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.785, -98.785 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, May 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5253611, 5253612.